Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-06-19

swuna round bows. or rather. box o. 70
tbs sireara. What had happeHca was this
they had stuck across . rock that projected
M from the bed Of the river the lorce o.
the current having washed the dead horses
to the one side and cart fothe other. Con-
~sequently they we're anchored TO the rock
az il were, the anchor being the dead
horses, and the cable the stout traces Of
Unframed leather. So long IS these traces
and the rest Of the harness held they were,
comparatively speaking, safe; butof course
they did not know this. Indeed, they
knew nothing. Above them rolled the
storm, and round them the waters seethed,
and the rain Kissed. They knew nothing
except that they were helpless living
atoms, tossing between the wild waters
and the wilder night, withimminent death
staring them in the face, around, above,
and below. To and frothey swung, locked
fast in each others arms, and as they did
so came that awful fash that, though they
knew il not, sent two of the murderers to
their account, and for an instant, even
through the sheet of rain, illumined the
space of boiling water and the long lines OF
the banks on either sid. 1t showed the
point Of rock to which they were fixed, 1t
glared upon the head OF m of the poor
horses, tossed up by the driving current,
as though it were trying to rise from Its
watery death, and revealed the form OF the
dead Zulu, Mouti, lying on his face, one
arm hanging over the edge OF the cart and
dabbling in the water that ran level with
it, in CHASTITY similarity to some idle pas
senger in a pleasure-boat, who lets his
fingers slip softly through the stream.
In a second it was gone, and they were
once more in darkness. But then by de-
grees the storm passed of and the moon
began to shine, feebly indeed, for the sky
was not clear washed of clouds, which still
trailed along in the tracks Of the tempest,
sucked after it by its might draught. Still
it was lighter, and the rain gradually thin
ned till at last it stopped, The storm had
passed in majesty down the ways OF the
night, and there was no sound round them
but the sound of rushing water.
"John," said jess, presently, "can we
do ~anything?'
Nothing, dear"
"Shall we escape, JOhn?"
He hesitated. 1T is in Gods hands,
dear. We are in great danger. If the cart
upsets we shall he drowned. Can you
swim?"
mo, John"
'If we can hang on here till daylight we
may get ashore, il those devils are not
there to shoot us. l do not think that our
chance is a good one"
"John, are you afraid to die?"
He hesitated. 81 don't know dear.
hope to meet it like a man."
"Tell me what you truly think. Is
there any hope for US at ALP"
Once more he paused, rejecting whether
or not he should speak the truth. Finally
be decided to do so.
II can see none, Jess. If we are moi
drowned we are sure to be shot. They
will wait about the bank till morning, and
for their own sakes they will not dare to
let us live"
He did not know that all that was left
of two of them would indeed waitfor many
a long year, and that the third had fled
aghast. w
O"Jess, dear" he went on, sit is no good
to tell lies. Our lives may end any minute,
Humanity speaking, they must end before
the sun is up"
The words were awful enough-if the
reader can by an effort of the Imagination
throw himself for a moment into the
position of these two, he will perhaps un'
stand how awful. 1t is a dreadful thing.
when in the full flow of health and youth.
to be suddenly placed face to face with the
certainty of violent death, and to krow
that in a few more minutes your course
will have been run, and that you will have
commenced to explore the future, which
may prove to be even worse, because more
enduring, than the life you are now quit
ting in agony. 1t is a dreadful thing, a:
any who have ever stood in such a peri
can testify, and John felt his heart sink
within him at the thought-for Death is
very strong. But there is one thing
stronger, q woman's perfect love. Against
this Death himself cannot prevail. And
so it came to pass that now, as he fixed
his cold gaze upon Jess's eyes, they
answered him with a strange, unearthly
light. She feared not Death, so that she
might meet him with her beloved. Death
was her hope and opportunity. Here che
had none; there she might have all-ol
sleep. The letters he'd fallen from her,
struck off by an overmasteyiDg hand. Hel
duty was satisfied, her trust fulfilled, and
she was free-free to die with her beloved,
Az! her love was indeed a love deeper
than the grove; and now it rose in all ii:
strength, standing tiptOe upon the earth,
ready, when dissolution had lent it wings,
to soar to loves w star.
''You are sure, John?" she asked again,
eyes, dear, yes. Why do you force me
to repeat it? | see no hope"
Her arms were round his neck, her soft
Curls rested on his cheek, and the breath
from her lips played upon his face. In
deed, it wa only by speaking into each
others ears that conversation was feasible,
owing to the rushing sound Of the waters
Because / have something to tell you
which l cannot tell unless we are going t.
die. You know it, but l want to say il
with my own lips before l die. love you
John; l love you, / love you; and / an
glad to die because l can die with you an(
90 away with yOu."